Saturday, April 25, 2015

It has been a busy week, but we found a few ways to spend less, save more and make do. Here are the frugal accomplishments and blessings for this past week, along with next week's dinner menu.

I cut a lot of my indoor plants back to the base a few weeks back.
The jade plant is coming back very nicely.

We got carryout pizza last Saturday evening, and paid for almost all of it with gift cards Husband earned on Swagbucks. The good news/bad news? The pizzas we got were okay, just missing a few things. Each. They got the order 'spectacularly wrong'. We called to let them know, and they gave us a credit to use next time. I'm sure they'll get it right next time! (Actually, we ended up getting a pizza this Friday, and it was perfect!) We still have enough credit to get another pizza some time, too.

Meanwhile, we had fried chicken (carryout) the previous week. Husband had picked it up on his way home from work, and I had made sides to go with. When he got it home, it was spicy instead of regular. I called and called, but no one picked up the phone until this Thursday. The young man that I talked to said that they were sorry, to bring the receipt and they will give us the order, done properly. We don't eat out a lot, so it's disappointing to get mistakes, but I am glad that both places are willing to fix it.

I continued with my part-time work efforts. Between filling in at the library and scoring for Pearson, I worked just under 30 hours (I think it was 29.63 hours). On my first paycheck of the season from Pearson I had a productivity award too - every little bit helps!

I shared some marinated three bean salad with a friend - we are sharing side dishes here and there to reduce waste and workload. It's also a reason to get together and visit a bit - always a plus!

Daughter attended a library program and potted this succulent. She gifted it to me - isn't she sweet?

I cut up a chicken this week - the breasts were grilled for the chicken Cesar salads, the drumsticks went into the Asian chicken and vegetables with bean thread noodle, and I used the frame to make stock. I froze the wings for later (when I get enough, we can make Buffalo wings) as well as the thighs (they are good lots of ways, so when I have 4-6 I'll grill them or something) and I stripped the meat from the frame and froze it for future barbecue sandwiches. We get quite a few meals from a single chicken! I put two containers of stock in the freezer - I'll use one this coming week for the vegetable soup I plan to make.

I hung our laundry to dry on drying racks....and just today, we got the clothesline cables and got them put up, so I can hang clothes outdoors again as well.

Yay for clothes lines!
I'm planting rhubarb at the bases.

I completed my book review, so I was able to request a new title from Blogging for Books.

I picked a little asparagus. I have radishes, lettuce and spinach sprouting. The kale and chard seedlings I planted are growing too...all under a protective cover. The peas are not protected, and are just peeking out of the ground.

We took Daughter to a free display - the Lego Americana Roadshow in a mall up near Denver. It was a surprise, and she really enjoyed it! We also stopped at the Lego store while we were up there.

The Roadshow was free to the public - the Lego store, not so much, hee hee. We did have a really nice time, and she is using the Legos she bought along with a library book full of ideas for freestyle building. Check out these riding ducks she made for Wyldstyle and Emmett!

There were some good grocery prices this week. Colby-jack cheese was 1.99/lb, and apples and oranges were .48/lb. I splurged on a small seedless watermelon too - at .25/lb, it cost 1.52! Even though they weren't on sale, but I picked up corn tortillas this week. They seem to keep in my fridge forever, so I buy the larger quantity package, since the price is lower. I did not do much shopping this week. Husband did take a prescription to King Sooper for transfer (we will get $25 store credit for that) and we picked up the freebies - a Lindor chocolate bar and Lipton sparkling tea. Walgreens had a deal for a bag of crispy M&Ms - it was $2.99, but there was a $3 register reward with purchase, making it a break-even deal. (I did read online that there were $1/1 coupons somewhere, but I didn't manage to find one.)

Freebies! There were two Reese's pieces 'carrots',
but one got eaten before the photo was taken.

Kohl's sent me a $10 off post card. We found Reese's Pieces (in carrot-shaped bags) and Godiva chocolates on clearance - we don't care that they are in Easter shapes - and got them free of charge.

We checked out books and media from the library. I did a little reading each night before bed.

Tomato seedlings.

With subbing and scoring, I'm going to be pulling some dinners from the freezer this week, but I'll make some items fresh as well. Here is the plan:

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

I received a copy of The Perfect Egg from Blogging for Books. I get to keep it, in exchange for my honest review of the book. (Now you know!)

I chose this book for a couple of reasons. One, we are looking at ways to eat less meat and have more meatless meals. Eggs are kind of middle ground, since they are an animal product, but in our home, we'd consider an egg meal to be meatless. My other reason? We have a few laying hens, and sometimes I feel like the eggs on hand vastly out-number the ideas I have to use them. My hope with this book was to find some new ideas that would help me use our farm-fresh eggs in different, tasty ways.

The actual book is sturdy, well-bound (I received the hard cover edition) and beautifully photographed. Each recipe (with the exception of a few technique tips in the first chapter about things like boiling eggs) has a corresponding photo. Even though beautiful photography can be a setup for a 'Pinterest fail', I do appreciate the attention to detail and the gorgeousness of all the final products. The photographs help me decide which recipes might most appeal to my family.

This book does include detailed recipes, but the authors also encourage you to make substitutions and adjustments here and there. This is how I cook all. the. time., so that resonates well with me. If you prefer to follow recipes exactly, you can, but I appreciate the....permission?....to take a recipe and make it my own.

One thing I'm happy to tell you is that this book is not full of breakfast dishes...or strictly egg dishes. Sure, it has both, but it also has recipes that will work throughout the day. Some of the recipes are for breads, soups, and even some spreads - from mayonnaise to an egg butter. I found many recipes that are different from anything I've ever made or eaten, so I am happy with the scope. I like to try foods from various cultures, and this book offers many options in that regard as well.

I plan to make the savory strata this coming week, and there are quite a few recipes I'd like to try in the next few weeks. If you like to cook, if you like eggs in general, and if you're looking for new ideas and inspiration, then I think The Perfect Egg is the perfect place to get a little inspiration!

Saturday, April 18, 2015

I hope you've had a wonderful week! Ours has been somewhat busy. Here are some highlights!

We borrowed books and media from the library, free of charge. I also purchased several Foxfire titles from the Friends sale shelf.

A friend of mine that I hadn't seen in ages came for a visit. She has daughters older than ours, and brought some jeans for Daughter. Best of all, we got to catch up on one another's lives!

Another day, a different friend brought her daughter to play while we mamas caught up on 'stuff and things'. I am blessed with good friends, near and far.

One day when I was out with Taffy, I spotted a bird I hadn't seen before. We identified it at a Spotted Towhee....but we didn't get a very clear picture. Exciting! Just after this, Daughter declared that she is going to be an ornithologist and study at Cornell.

Meanwhile, Taffy has found a new favorite toy:

There were a lot of freebies on the local buy-sell-trade Facebook page. I was able to get a box of craft supplies for Daughter and an aloe vera plant. I was also able to sell off some excess eggs from our hens, and I gave a lady some rhubarb crowns.

I am staying busy scoring for Pearson and putting in some sub hours at the library. The first week I worked 33 hours between those two things. I also completed a survey for Pinecone Research. I signed a contract to do a chicken program for the library in May, and confirmed for nine rabbit programs this summer.

I spruced this guy up this week - his paint was all sun-bleached.
He is out by our little vegetable garden now.
I took a 'before' photo, but I cannot get it to upload.
(I'm still learning this new computer!)

Daughter had to attend a screening for school, and it was in town. We combined that trip with our town errands to save time and fuel. With the hours I'm working right now, I decided to check out the bread outlet and see if there were any bargains. I found large whole wheat dinner rolls (well, for dinner rolls they are large, almost as big as a small hamburger bun) in a 12-pack for .80, Thomas whole wheat English muffins for .80 a pack and a 10-pack of mini (they are nearly the size of normal!) bagels for 1.25. I purchased one pack of the rolls, two packs of English muffins and one package of bagels. These will provide for some variety and convenience while I'm busier (the next couple months). We also stopped at the Asian market for some produce. They have great prices on some things - bunches of spinach for 69 cents, Napa cabbage for .59/lb. and bean sprouts for 1.29.lb. We also got something new to try, called Persian cucumber, for .69/lb. I noticed that they are now carrying a lot of Indian food ingredients - woo hoo! I also stocked up a little bit on tea and got some more lettuce for .48/head. We also got some free spinach-artichoke dip from the 'free Friday download' at King Sooper.

My antique jars have a new home along the top of the kitchen cabinets.
I really enjoy seeing them there.

I partially thawed a turkey this week, cut it into parts (much like you'd cut up a chicken) and then wrapped and re-froze most of it. I put the turkey frame into the crock pot with some celery, onions, spices and water, then stripped the bones. I got about 3 cups of meat and a quart and a half of rich stock, just from the frame! The remaining wrapped and frozen pieces will be used in many different ways over then next couple months.

We have been moving some things around in the back yard. This week we got the clothesline poles moved out of the main area and re-installed over to the side yard. It makes for more space by Daughter's swings and the picnic table, and the clotheslines are in a better location for me. There is mint growing beneath the clotheslines now - I bet it will smell nice when I hang out laundry. We also moved an apple tree to a better location.

This poor tree was hit by a tree we cut down a couple years ago.
We are hopeful that with some time we can return it to a more balanced shape.

Mostly, I dried laundry on the drying racks, but I needed to wash some sheets. With the clotheslines down right now (we have to pick up new coated cable - it's been about 15 years!), I used the dryer, but I used it on a cold day so that we'd get a little of that heat thrown off into the house. We also used the wood stove sometimes, to keep the house warm.

They are continuing with spring cleaning at Husband's workplace. We received some book shelves, a cork board and a dry erase board.

I brought in more daffodils for the kitchen table, and picked a small batch of asparagus from the asparagus bed. I have some Swiss chard and kale planted in a protective (covered) shelter, along with some radish, spinach and lettuce seeds. Most of the indoor seedling starts have sprouted - I will likely replant the others some time this week.

Our menu for the coming week reflects some goals we have to eat less meat and more plant-based protein sources....and more vegetables. Here is our supper menu plan:

Saturday, April 11, 2015

I just wanted to share a picture of this Easter egg, even though
it's a bit late. The butterfly is acutally a temporary tattoo. I
drew the little flowers right onto the egg with markers. It was fun!

My friend and I got together a few times this week. Our daughters played together while we caught up on visiting. It was so nice to see her - we always end up laughing and having a nice time.

I was able to get some more butter for .99/lb, along with canned pineapple (20 oz.) and mandarin oranges (15 oz.) for .75 per can. Strawberries were .98/lb, almonds were 4.99/lb. and chunks of cheddar cheese were 1.99/lb. When the sales changed midweek, grapes were .88/lb., roma tomatoes were .69/lb, broccoli was .98/lb., honey mangoes were 3/$1, sweet corn was .25/ear, leaf lettuces were .48 each and monterey jack cheese was 1.99/lb. We also found a lonely bag of Easterish Hershey kisses with almonds for $1.44.

I picked daffodils to bring indoors and enjoy. We walked around the flower beds, taking note of the various perennials that are peeking through the ground. I was excited to discover two new perennial Oriental Poppy plants that are sprouting. They probably will not bloom this year, but we're still excited to have them spread some. I divided a peony bush into three smaller ones and moved on to the front driveway area, and all of those are sprouting, along with the irises that I divided and planted on the terraces. Last year, we put in a gravel driveway and added a walkway - I am trying to populate the big flowerbed that was 'created' with plants we have on hand.

Peony sprouts.

We borrowed books and media from the library, free of charge.

I began scoring for Pearson this week. (This is one of the reasons I am only posting one post per week right now - this takes up a considerable amount of my time.) It is a good job for working from home, but it is short-term. This is actually fine - scoring the answer to the same question over and over is not something I think I would want to do year-round! That said, I am really enjoying my project assignment this year.

I baked three loaves of bread, made egg salad, lots of green salad, enchilada sauce, Mexican rice, calzones, sides like rice and steamed vegetables, roasted potatoes and more. I also spent some time making a list of dinner entrees. I am hoping that the list will make menu planning easier and more fun.

We had some cold weather this week. Sometimes, using the oven (say, to bake the bread) was enough to warm the house, but we also used the wood stove some.

The ladies that Husband works with sent a potted plant home for me. It's cute - I hope I can keep it alive!

I continued working on the little garden. Mostly I am watering the soil daily, to help saturate the area and help the compost and other soil amendments begin to break down and release their nutrients in the soil. It is still too early to plant anything here without protection, so I'm trying to be patient! I do have a small triangular cover over a small area of the garden - I plant to sow lettuce, radish and spinach seeds beneath it very soon.

We need some trees to plant along one side of the property so we cut some branches from a poplar and put them into a bucket of water to root.

My friend brought us some sweet-sour jalapeno slaw that she made. I'll share some marinated three bean salad with her the next time I make some.

I received my next selection from Blogging for Books - review coming soon!

We had a couple of things we have been using for a while that were good examples of 'making do'. Our Eureka vacuum cleaner is about 8 or 9 years old. It was working okay, but there was a fair amount of duct tape holding things together. About a year ago I purchased a second-hand Shark portable vacuum, and I have been very, very happy with it. I had told husband that when the time comes, I'd like to replace our Eureka with a Shark. Costco had a really good price on a full-size Shark vacuum. I did some research and we purchased one. You know how I said the Eureka was working OK? Well...I had to empty the Shark canister, um, a few times, the first time I used it on our carpeting. I am very happy with the performance so far. It has a five year warranty, plus Costco will stand behind it if we have any problems.

The other item was my laptop. It has been warning me for quite a while that the hard drive is 'going' A couple weeks ago it started crashing semi-regularly. It has been a good computer, but it is old enough that repairs are not worth the cost, and I have been semi-watching for a replacement. Husband found a great price on a Chrome Book - $129 at Best Buy, one day only. It doesn't do everything my laptop would do, but it does meet my needs. (I have had the laptop for 4+ years and put exactly one disc in the disc drive.) The Chrome Book is solid-state, so the battery lasts much longer, and it turns on instantly. It's also smaller, light weight and super cute! I want to make a little quilted tote for it so I can bring it along to the library and such. I had savings set aside for a replacement computer, but Husband said, "Happy Birthday!" (a little early) He's quite the sweetie. (I say that even when he doesn't buy me stuff!)

In this coming week, I will continue with my scoring efforts. I am also working a few hours at the library on two days, and daughter has a school event we will attend. It will likely be a busy week. Here is the supper menu plan:

Monday, April 6, 2015

A friend gave us these pretty butterflies for Daughter - after a bit of de-tangling and a little glue, they were good as new. We hung them all from a branch in Daughter's bedroom. So pretty!

We have been working on our garden fortress. It ought to be deer proof, and will also protect the plants from hail to some extent. I will write a separate post about it soon.

This week on the local buy-sell-trade page on Facebook, I got two board games for Daughter for $2 apiece. One is Trouble (pop-o-matic!) and the other is a Lego board game. They are complete, and even have the instructions.

We picked more daffodils to bring indoors and enjoy.

The jars are a much more vivid blue after cleaning up - this is the 'before' photo.

I also got this lot of 15 'old jars' for $10 and a dozen eggs from my hens. They came with a free coating of dust, as well as free pasta, lentils, rice and split peas. I'll be cooking those up, a little at a time, for my hens.

I also got a free elliptical machine. The lady said it was 'too tight' and hard to use. I messaged her about how to adjust the tension level and she messaged me back that it didn't have an adjustment she could find...and that she and her husband both tried to fix it, to no avail. I figured we could likely repair it, because we're pretty good with that sort of thing. When we got it home, I saw this:

And turned down the tension...er, resistance. Okay.

I did a survey for Pinecone Research. I also subbed some at the library and began my training to score essays for Pearson.

I listened to lots of birdsong. The chickadees are here, along with the robins and mockingbirds. I haven't heard the meadowlarks yet, but I've seen some bluebirds. Welcome, spring!

I asked around about mechanics, because we've had a hard time finding someone we trust and believe in. I think we have found a gem, thanks to the recommendation of a person who said she thought he was really good, and really cares about what he does. So far, we would agree with that assessment, and we were also very happy with the cost. He has a shop at his home, so his overhead is less, and he passes that reduced cost on to his customers.

We hid two peeled, hard-cooked eggs for Taffy.

She loved her Easter egg hunt!

We dyed eggs. I had not planned well for this and we had very little food coloring, so we used the little packets for making unsweetened Kool-Aid, mixed with water and a splash of vinegar. We embellished the eggs with items we had on hand - markers, stickers and some temporary tattoos. Afterward, we dipped some coffee filters in the dye to make butterflies.

I made a phone call in regard to an item Husband had purchased online that was not up to snuff...the customer service lady was very helpful and kind, and agreed that we should not have to pay the return shipping. If I had not called to inquire, the shipping fee would have automatically been deducted from the refund.

I watched the moon the night it was full.

I enjoyed the scent of the apricot blossoms, along with the buzz of the honeybees tending them. We got frost the next night, so I'm glad I took a moment to pay attention.

For our Easter breakfast I made an Almond Danish Ring. It is one of Husband's favorites. It's quite yummy.

There were a few good sales this past week. Six ounce cans of almonds were buy one, get one free at Walgreens, and I had coupons to get an additional $1 off two. Better yet, there were some flavors marked down to 2.99 per can - still BOGO, so they were $1 per can with sale and coupon. Potatoes were 1.49 for a 10 pound bag, head lettuce (I got romaine) was .99/head, roma tomatoes were .69/lb and broccoli was .98/lb. I also picked up a fresh pineapple for $1.50 - more than I usually pay, but that was about the best deal for fresh fruit this week. We also have apples in the fridge and plenty of frozen fruit, applesauce, etc., but fresh is our favorite. :) We found corned beef on sale for $2 per pound - I think they were overstocked from St. Patricks and just trying to get rid of it, so we purchased one for the freezer.

I enjoyed watching all the garden seeds that have begun to sprout. I am officially eager for springtime to come and stay!

This coming week will be a busy one - I have a dinner menu planned and I know I'll make some egg salad. We'll manage - it's not like we will forget to eat! Anyway, here is the dinner menu, Sunday to Saturday for this first full week of April:

Easter - I was very tired on Easter...perhaps because a certain little girl woke me at 3:30, because she 'just couldn't wait any longer' for Easter. We were not really in the mood for a big dinner, and it was a really pretty day, so we played outside, working on the garden and soaking up the sun. I got out some freezer items (smoky ribs and baked beans) from a few weeks ago, made a salad, and baked some chicken (there were not enough ribs to have leftovers for Husband's lunch the next day). It made for a nice dinner.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Hello, all! Here is a summary of my stock-up items and spending for groceries for the month of March. Our grocery budget is $180 a month, but we had also rolled some funds over from last month. In addition, Husband transferred a prescription to King Sooper and received a $25 store credit. With all of that, I still went a little over budget - $18.10. I had forgotten to tally a receipt, but truth be told, I'm OK with going over. I will subtract that overage from the April budget, to even things out.

Bean Burgers are a great way to get non-meat protein.
Just don't try to trick anyone by claiming they are beef!

Listed below are the items I bought in bulk to stock up for future months. You'll notice different prices at different places for the same item, like butter. The butter sales came late in the month, after I'd bought a 4 pound shrink-pack at Costco for about $2 a pound. Later in the month I was getting butter for $1.25 and even .99 a pound! That is a great price, so even though I had the 4 pounds of butter, I continued buying it at the lower price too. I have a chest freezer and butter stores really well there.

I bought beef - both steaks and a roast, some fish, chickens, pepperoni, pasta sauce, sugar, flour, butter and more butter, strawberries for jam, condiments, yeast and more.

We spent a little more week-to-week on produce, but we had some really nice meals!

I started the month with $241.68 in the grocery budget, spent $143.79 on stock-up items, and just over $22 a week on items we needed week-to-week, like milk and produce. All of that combined put me over by $18.10, so I will begin April with $161.90

We have the Easter sales posted now. Cook's shank ham is .99 a pound, and I have a coupon that will double to give me $1 off the total price of the ham. I have a few of those coupons, but I will likely only purchase one ham, because I have almost two whole hams in the freezer right now. I will also be able to get a little more butter for .99 a pound, so I will do that as well. Potatoes are 1.49 for a 10 pound bag - more than I'm used to paying (they have been going on sale for .99/bag), but still a good price. As far as items I just need to stock, I will need to get some of the minced garlic that comes in a jar. I'm not aware of anything else at this time, but I will be re-working the pantry this month, which will give me a chance to do a good inventory.